A British climber survived an avalanche in the Alps after he managed to "swim"
across it for several hundred feet.

The 23-year-old alpinist was with two other British climbers when they were hit by the tumbling wall of snow as they climbed on the Italian side of Mont Blanc.

They were making their way down from the Aiguille di Bionnassay, a 13,294ft peak that is part of the Mont Blanc massif, when the avalanche struck.

Two of the climbers, Misha Gopaul, 33, and Ben Tibbetts, 31, managed to scramble out of its path.

But their companion, who did not want to be identified, was swept up in the avalanche. Instead of being buried by it, he managed to "swim" across its surface for around 700 yards, Italian alpine rescue officials said.

"He was very, very lucky," Delfino Viglione, the head of a police mountain rescue unit based in the town of Aosta in the Italian Alps, told Sky News. "He was hit by the full force of the avalanche but instead of being buried he managed to swim it for 700 metres before coming to a stop.